Halo: JERICHO
by Oracle4907
Summary: <html><head></head>Fireteam JERICHO. The best of the SPARTAN IV's. Ghosts. Gods. Rumors told that JERICHO was the brass hand of ONI, the men that got the dirty work done. But the New Phoenix event changed all that. Some say fireteam leader SPARTAN 513-Joel lost his soul there. Others say he lost something more.</html>
1. Chapter 1: A Meeting

_UNSC Spectre,_

Sanghelios, Urs System

2500 Hours, 2557

A pillar of smoke drifted lazily through the room, creating a schillouette around the man facing out the obsevation deck window. Below him Sanghelios stretched out in panoramic beauty, draped by a backdrop of stars. A few miles beyond the window two UNSC frigates floated silently in the black of space, outlined by the white surfaces of Sanghelios' moons far in the distance. The man raised a cigar to his lips, taking a long drag and setting the remains in an ashtray on a table. He rubbed the burning tip into the ash-filled cup, twisting it with his grimy fingers until the embers sputtered into darkness. He half glanced back at Thel, blowing a long cloud of sweet smoke into the air, his lip curled slightly upward in a look that mirrored disdain.

"I know your distrust of our people, Arbiter. I've heard the rumors that have surfaced about human intervention on this planet, and talk of human supported insurrection against your…regime." The man spoke, his voice rough and tempered.

The Arbiter grunted in acknowledgement.

The man turned back from the window, walking through the curtain of smoke he had created from the cigar. His eyes stared like polished metal, his face stern and cold. Old wrinkles ran across his cheeks like valleys, and his hair gleamed silver in the artificial light form the overhead bulbs.

"As long as there has been war, there has been intelligence. Five hundred years ago our fathers fought insurrection, terrorism, across an ocean. That war was far away from the prying eyes of civilians. Great men served in that war. The majority of our battles were successful, but there were localized events. We would suffer catastrophic defeats against an enemy far less advanced than us. Broken communication links. A lack of intel. That's what cost us lives. The United States of America; it was probably one of the most corrupt nations since the Roman Empire. Despite this drawback, the United States had one of the most capable intelligence communities in the history of man, but I digress. Intel makes or breaks a fighting force, Arbiter. It is the reason the United States became the greatest power on our planet for centuries. These principles of outsmarting our enemy are the same principles, the same reason why we founded ONI; to outsmart the opponent. It's a necessity, especially in a war with a technologically superior opponent; if you can't outgun them, you have to out think them."

"Yet you hide so much from us, your allies. We fought alongside you. Died with you." The Arbiter replied.

"You were fighting with the grunts. I'm here to show you the truth. ONI has always been there."

The man took a small disposable datapad next to the ashtray on the table. He held it out quietly in front of the Arbiter, who hesitantly took it.

"What is this?" The Arbiter inquired, voice booming off of the metal walls of the observation room.

"Answers. Answers the UNSC would never tell you, or your people. Forerunner secrets, stories of old. Catalogs of ancient history that show why the Prophets waged the 'holy war'. I also added something a little more…personal in there as well." The man said, turning back to face the window, hands deep in his pockets.

"Your friend, John. Your comrade, more like. What would you say if I told you he was alive?" The man continued, staring back at the Arbiter one last time.

"The Spartan? Impossible." The Arbiter asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"If you believe the lies, then yes. But open your mind and you'll see that the UNSC Brass knows a fraction of what I do. That datapad has the answers."

"Who are you? Why should my people trust you?"

"I'm a friend. A truth-seeker. I'm just doing my job, Arbiter. " The man said, nodding to the Arbiter.

Two marines walked into the room, rifles shouldered.

"Sir, you're going to have to come with us." The older marine said, escorting the confused Elite out of the observation deck.

The door closed with a subdued _hiss_, and the man sat down in a chair next to the window. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small sphere of polished metal. Small runes glowed in soft blue light across the device, and the sphere began to warm in the palm of the man's hand.

"Answers. That's all we're looking for." The man whispered to himself, almost inaudibly.

He stared pondering out to the surface of Sanghelios, running his fingers up and down the smooth pleated fabric of his trousers, thinking to himself.

"Gatsby, status report." He spoke to the room.

An AI matrix came to life, and a projection of a man appeared on the hologram stand behind the contemplating officer.

"_Sir, we've received the location of Spartan 513- Joel. Permission to stir up a Pelican?" _A voice reported from all sides.

"Granted. Gatsby, inform the crew to prepare for a slipspace jump within the next six hours. Set exit vector for Mars."

"_Aye sir, I'm already on it."_

The man stood from his seat, shoving the sphere into his left pocket. He walked briskly to the door, waving it open and walking out to greet two marine escorts.

"Sir!" the two shouted in unison, saluting crisply with their free hands.

The officer nodded back, returning their salute.

The three walked quickly down the corridors to the shuttle bay. As they walked, the man grabbed another cigar out from his breast pocket. He lit it with a spare lighter and puffed absently down the winding halls. Soldiers who encountered the man saluted quickly, dropping what hey were doing almost immediately. The newer recruits stared, unable to move. Finally the man and the marine escort reached the hangar where a Pelican sat waiting, engines whining for takeoff. The man turned to the two marines, nodded his goodbye, and stepped into the pelican. Moments later the dropship sputtered into the air and shot out of the hangar, speeding towards the planet.


	2. Chapter 2: Fireteam JERICHO

**Sanghelios, Urs System**

2500 Hours, 2557

"I've got eyes on target, waiting for the green light." A voice crackled into Joel's speakers.

Joel was situated behind a large rock, sniper rifle in hand. He pulled back the bolt and checked the round, making sure the explosive tip was loaded and catalyzed. He lowered the rifle and peeked out slowly from behind the rock. To his left a huge cliff face towered above, and to his right a small trail led down the hill to the Sangheli city bustling below. Joel looked up briefly, catching a glimpse of a loyalist crusier floating menacingly at high altitude. It's sleek lines and silver frame made it appear almost animal-like in the sky, like some strange flying whale. Joel crouched back behind the rock on the ridge, looking out to the barren valley beyond the village. Far off in the distance, almost indistinguishable from the glare of the two suns, three green beams shot into Joel's view. They were gone as quickly as they had come, like mirages in desert heat.

"Rodger. On my mark we take the shots." Joel replied, steadying his breathing.

Joel linked his helmet to the sniper scope, watching the landscape seemingly jump into perfect magnification. He could see everything on the building: two gold-armored elites sat in huge throne-like chairs at the edge of a long feasting table. Huge fuel rod turrets panned the sky on the sides of the huge building, searching for targets. The two elites spoke to each other, their mandibles moving in conversation. Joel watched as a group of Jackals dragged out three weapon crates and placed them on the table, opening the tops with their sharp teeth. They left quickly, retreating into the penthouse that sat behind the elites. Joel panned his view, zooming yet again to get a closer look at the contents of the boxes. His eyes widened at the sight.

"Hey, I don't remember the Covvies having human tech. What's up Joel?" another voice, female, asked over the comm. Link.

"I can't say. It doesn't matter. We have our orders." Joel continued to look at the mass of UNSC rifles and heavy shells stacked within the crates.

"'Telcam is the one with the crest on the center of his armor. We take him out, the resistance crumbles. Arbiter wins." Joel repeated to his fireteam over the comm link, flicking the sniper rifle's safety off as he spoke.

He shimmied over on his stomach to the right of the rock and set his rifle on the dirt. He pushed deep into the stock and let it connect with the grooves in his shoulder pad. He breathed in deeply, letting his pulse relax. Soon Joel was alone, with only the sound of the wind racing across the ridge to accompany him. He prepared his way for several minutes while letting his fellow Spartans search the roof for any potential traps.

It had been a long month on Sanghelios, living off of local game and the few rations ONI had sent them down with. They had waited almost four weeks for this moment, hiking nearly fifty kilos undercover from their drop zone across the valley floor to the ridge where Joel now lay. He had left his fireteam behind to set up nearly four days ago, finishing the hike through the backstreets of the small city and climbing his way up the broken cliff face in the dead of night to avoid detection. Upon completion of the mission, ONI promised fireteam Jericho two weeks off-duty, an incentive the whole team was foaming at the mouth for; they had been conducting black ops missions on Sanghelios intermittently for nearly six months.

"Aye, the second turret is a shield generator. We gotta hit that before we can kill the buggers." An accented voice snapped through the comm link.

Joel opened his eyes from his meditation, training the sniper's crosshairs back unto the head of Avu 'Talcam, resting his finger on the rifle's trigger.

"Do it." Joel said, and pulled the trigger.

The shot boomed across the cliff face, and wind from the rifle's recoil blew bits of dust and rock into Joel's visor. In his visor's final moments linked with the rifle, Joel saw a satisfying firework of purple gore erupt form the two elite's heads before the link was cut. As soon as his eyes were back to the cliff face Joel collapsed the sniper, folded it over itself, and attached it to his back. He grabbed the silenced SMG in his thigh compartment and clutched it tightly.

"Hahaha! Did you see that! Covvie's heads splattered all over the back wall! Goddamn that was good!" The rich Irish accent laughed through the comm link.

"We're not out of it yet Connor." The female voice replied calmly.

"Claire, Andre, Connor; I'm marking a rendezvous point three klicks south of your location. Make the call for extraction." Joel commanded, peeking down the cliff face that led to the town.

"Joel, our ride'll be coming in hot. You sure you can make it?" Claire asked.

"I'll find my way." Joel said, sprinting off of the cliff face.

He fell freely, the wind whipping across his visor. He could hear it faintly as he descended from the cliff face. He looked up briefly as the roofs of the tallest city buildings began to rise above him, watching the Covenant loyalists begin to track artillery on his falling form. He was forced to maneuver his falling body away from numerous fuel rod projectiles, dodging their singing mass as he plummeted closer to the ground. As the village streets grew ever closer in his vision and the Covenant turrets became ever closer to hitting him, he activated his jetpack. The sudden deceleration made his stomach lurch, and he hit the ground with a metallic _clank_. Immediately Joel began shooting at the detachment of grunts and Jackals swarming out of the building's entrance to meet him. They fell quickly to his machine gun, and Joel pushed himself through the enemies to a small alleyway, where he let his depleted shields recharge. As he glanced back through the alley he saw a glorious sight: the metallic purple and dual plasma cannons of a ghost, sitting derelict in the back of the building. He sprinted down the alley, throwing a grenade behind him for the grunts that were swarming through the chokehold. The explosion rattled his jaw, and he flipped himself over the hood of the ghost and into the pilot seat. He quickly initiated the engines, and the ghost obediently lifted off of the floor.

Before he could push in the throttle he was knocked face first into the ground. Joel rolled rapidly out of the way, hearing the hiss of an energy sword swing past the air he had occupied just moments ago. He rose into a crouch and lunged at the elite, pushing the two of them to the ground. Joel managed to gain leverage, crushing the elite's left hand beneath his boot. The elite growled and pushed up into Joel, knocking him back into the wall. Joel reached into his right thigh holster and came out with a small device. He feigned defeat, falling down to his hands and knees in face of the elite, who raised his energy sword.

"Puny Spartan. Worthless, like the rest of your race." The elite mocked, and swung the energy sword down hard unto Joel's neck.

Joel quickly pressed the button on the device, and his suit immediately exploded into blue light, socking the elite and knocking it's energy shields out. With his free hand, Joel managed to pull a magnum from his back holster and let out one snapshot. The elite fell backwards, gargling in its own blood as it died. Joel quickly tossed the device to the side, grabbed the inactive energy sword hilt, and jumped back onto the ghost. He gunned the throttle, speeding out of the alleyway and onto the main road. He sped the ghost along, dodging wraith mortars and plasma fire from both side of him as he weaved through careless roadblocks set up by the loyalists.

"How are we doing on time Claire?" Joel asked, swerving the ghost to run over an advancing jackal.

"Pelican is inbound. Pilot says they can only hold the LZ for five minutes, tops."

"I'll be there in two." Joel said, jamming his fist into the boost control of the ghost.

The ghost began to shutter as it picked up speed, and Joel hesitantly jumped out of his seat and proceeded to stand on the hood of the ghost as it streaked across the empty desert. Off in the distance he could see his three Spartans lighting flares for a pelican that was rapidly descending. Before he could reach the Spartans he was flipped off of his ghost by an exploding mortar. He catapulted through the air, hitting the ground and rolling for a few yards before coming to rest. His whole body ached, and his leg was crippled with pain.

"Joel! Joel! Are you alright mate?" He heard Connor ask nervously through the comm link.

"Ugh…yeah, I'm fine. Probably a broken leg." Joel said, managing to stand.

"That's the fifth one this year Joel! You need to drink your milk!" Andre joked.

"Very funny." Joel said, stabbing a biogel syringe into a mediport on his armor.

The pain instantly abated, and Joel began to run towards the Pelican, which was hovering about two hundred yards away from him. He covered the distance in nearly thirty seconds, while wraith mortars showered the ground behind him.

"Comin' in hot Jericho!" Joel yelled, and leaped up into the rapidly ascending Pelican just as a mortar fell.

The pelican ignited its afterburners and sped quickly up into the atmosphere. It shook briefly as the pilot dodged antiaircraft fire, but soon the ride smoothed as the blue sky was replaced with the blackness of space.

* * *

><p>Joel sat down exhausted in one of the jumper seats, flanked by his comrades. Claire shook off her helmet, revealing a beautiful woman staring worried at Joel. Her blonde hair was cut short, and her emerald green eyes pointed like daggers at Joel.<p>

"You could have gotten yourself killed, pulling off a stunt like that." She said, pushing him lightly.

"I thought you'd enjoy the show." Joel said, smiling.

"Goddamn, that was a bloody good show! Count me in anytime!" Connor came up behind Claire, smiling his normal dorky smile.

He slapped his hand on Claire, who he towered over. His brown eyes glowed with humor and his young cheeks folded over themselves in dimples. He smoothed his chestnut-colored hair as he took his helmet off, dropping it nonchalantly to the floor. Connor sat down next to Joel, facing sideways in the seat to give him a hearty clap on the back.

"That was a good shot Joel. Almost as good as mine." Andre appeared from the engine bay, curly black hair and dark skin disguising him in the shadows.

"What do you think? Ready to admit defeat yet?" Joel joked, slugging Andre playfully as the spartan walked past.

"Not a chance. I took out the generator and Mr. Two-jaws in his penthouse. Two to one my friend." Andre retaliated, pulling out a cigarette from his footlocker and lighting it.

"I was just giving you a chance to shine. I was the one taking out the wraith gunner on the buildings below." Connor replied.

"Damn good job you did." Clair said, pointing at Joel's leg.

The Spartans laughed as they dropped their weapons off, placing them in their respective lockers. As they worked a lone figure stepped quietly out of the cockpit and sat down at one of the leading jumper seats facing the Pelican's drop-door.

"Damn good job indeed, Spartans." The figure said.

The Spartans all stopped in the middle of what they were doing. Connor looked over at the man, puzzled.

"Who in the bloody hell are you?" He asked.

"You're not Admiral Jameson." Andre affirmed, starting towards the figure.

The man stood up and walked towards the cockpit.

"I'm your new CO. You can call me Admiral Price. I'll be in charge of fireteam Jericho from now on." The man said, leading against the pelican's cockpit door.

"Do you have the papers to prove that?" Joel asked calmly, walking past the confused Spartans.

"Don't need it. Jameson is being redeployed to a different fireteam. HIGHCOM orders directly." The man said, reaching his hand out to shake with the Spartan.

Joel took the man's hand carefully, making sure not to break his bones with his suit's powerful joints.

"You don't have to worry about hurting me, Spartan. I can hold my own." The man said, retracting his hand rather quickly.

"Just using caution, sir." Joel replied, saluting.

"No need. I have a few favors to ask of you. I know that ONI promised you a reprieve, but I'm afraid we may have to expedite that request. Something big has come up. Something life-changing."

The Spartans looked at each other, confused.

"What's the problem, sir?" Joel asked, sitting back down and holding his leg.

"I need fireteam Jericho to help save Earth." The man replied.


	3. Chapter 3: News

UNSC _Spectre,_

Sanghelios, Urs system

0200 Hours, 2557

Joel sat alone in the med bay, watching the UNSC frigates out the windows conduct war maneuvers in the darkness of space. He glanced down the med bay, looking to see if a medic or marine was likely to come down the hall. He pulled out his data pad and swiped through the options until he reached the messenger app. He scrolled to a conversation and entered his own encryption code. The conversation opened, and he typed quickly onto the holographic keyboard.

_"Hey Abby, how's it going on the homefront?" JOEL_

Joel waited for a moment, calculating the time on earth using the military clock.

"Must be around eight over there." Joel whispered to himself after finishing the math. The datapad rumbled in his hands, a new message.

_"Hey babe, good to hear from you. Things are going well here. How's it on Sanghelios?" ABBY_

_"A shithole, as always. Anything to report?" JOEL_

_"That's a negative, Spartan." ABBY_

_"…I miss you." JOEL_

_"I miss you too babe. Terribly. This is what happens when you travel too much." ABBY_

_"I know. But it beats the hell out of a desk job." JOEL_

_"Hey, a desk job may do you some good. It'd also leave you closer to me." ABBY_

_"…Can you video chat right now?" ABBY_

_"Yeah, I'll call you." JOEL_

Joel sat back and held up the datapad, tapping on the call button. Joel smiled as the signal connected, looking at the picture he had saved for her contact. It was the day she had graduated from ONI academy in Berlin; she was dressed in a navy uniform, and her cobalt blue eyes practically glowed for the camera. Her soft cheeks shone with excitement, her perfect white teeth glistening. The edges of her blonde hair cascaded in waves to her shoulders, the rest hidden behind her sailor cap. She was short, but she had a voice as powerful as a famous movie actress. Her voice was made to command. The link was established and Joel stared into Abby's smiling face.

"Babe!" she half-whispered, half yelled.

"Hey, how's it going babe?" Joel smiled back.

"Good, just getting ready to clock out. Another long day at the office." Abby replied, glancing off the camera for a moment to check something on her monitor.

"Got any juicy secrets for me?" Joel asked, scooting himself back onto the pillow and wincing unintentionally.

"Of course, but first you have to tell me what the hell happened to you." She retorted, eyes narrowed.

"How'd you know?" Joel asked, laughing to himself.

"Duh, I've seen that damn med bay so many times I could probably find the biogel cabinet with my eyes closed." She joked, smiling.

"True that. It's a simple broken leg."

"How'd you do it?"

"I made an acrobatic escape from a ghost."

"It's never simple with you." She said, shaking her head and suppressing a smile.

"So babe, y'know how I was supposed to come back within this week?"

Abby's eyes sank, her smile wiped from her face. Her body physically tensed, waiting for the punch of disappointment she was so used to.

"Honey, don't look like that. It's important!" Joel said.

"It's always important. When will I be important?" She asked, eyes pleading.

"Honey, you are important. This is about saving Earth, which means I'll be saving you."

"You've saved me enough times. I'd like to see you again before I die, or worse…"

"Worse? What, I die?"

"You put the words in my mouth."

"Abby I'll be back soon. I swear. At the end of this mission the team and I will take a civy transport back to earth."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

" I love you." Abby said.

"I love you too." Joel replied.

A long pause, Abby and Joel sat facing each other through the datapad.

"Babe…I have to tell you something." Abby said, looking at him with eyes full of emotion.

"What's up love?" Joel asked, his stomach momentarily flipping.

"Do you remember how we met?" She asked him, hope filling her eyes.

Joel sat quietly for a few moments, contemplating his next words. A sudden flashback of memories flooded his mind. He remembered the posters in his high school counselor's office, large signs showing marines in battle, Beating down the covenant and travelling the galaxy like new explorers. He remembered seeing one in particular that was stamped into his brain: A young Admiral Preston Cole, standing triumphantly in his ship's bridge as a fleet of Covenant vessels burned behind him. He wanted to be a part of that so badly, he signed up at the naval recruiting center the very next day. He was shipped off to planet Reach the next week. He trained hard, studied war tactics, and managed to excel through every rigorous task the navy forced him though. He never had finished top of his class, but he came out of the school with nearly no mental scarring. He remembered specialization school with his fellow marines, the ODST training he went though as a young adult. He remembered all the tough nights, being last in all the firefight training session and in his physical abilities. He was kicked out only two weeks into the program, deemed unfit for the ODSTs. He ended his journey in ONI SpecOps, conducting escort and espionage missions in the inner colonies. He met Abby at a debriefing after a successful diplomatic mission on Earth, a chance encounter. She was an intern for ONI, having yet to go through the academy. The connection had been instant, quick, and passionate. He took Abby home that night, and made love to her in a penthouse suite which lock he had managed to pick. They had been best friends, lovers, and comrades in arms ever since. After the Covenant was defeated, ONI offered Joel a spot on the new SPARTAN-IV program. By then the two had been married and living together for almost a year. Despite the fears of the genetic augmentation and the controversy behind the original SPARTAN III program, he hesitantly took the chance.

"Of course baby. ONI 'till I die." Joel finally managed.

"I need you home soon. Very soon." Abby replied, a worried look in her eyes.

"I know love, I'm working on it." Joel said, shifting in his bed.

"I'm pregnant, Joel." Abby finally said, practically spitting it out.

Joel sat back and let the data pad fall. His muscles wouldn't work, his brain worked to try and understand the meaning of those words. He was speechless, unable to move. He struggled to identify the powerful emotion gripping his throat, his arms, and his body.

"Babe? Are you okay?" Abby's voice echoed through the med bay.

Joel was silent, contemplating. He was unable to move or to speak.

"You traded a life for the program, Joel. Now I'm trading it back." Abby said.

Joel looked at her, trying to contain his fear and anger.

"What the hell do I do now Abby?" Joel asked, clenching his fists.

"I don't know. I do know how ONI is with their 'property' though."

"I do too." Joel said, looking out at the med bay entrance, making sure nobody was coming.

"You have to make a choice Joel. I'm not going to raise a baby fatherless." Abby said.

"Godamn it Abby, why couldn't you just wait?" Jowl burst out, his voice booming through the med bay.

"Why couldn't you have stayed in ONI? I told you the program was too much! Ten years of your life, totally dedicated to the ONI SPARTAN branch?"

"Yes Abby! That was the goal! I wanted to make a difference, you know that!" Joel shouted, his anger bubbling over.

"Well Joel, I'm just trying to make a future for you! A legacy that doesn't involve death and dismemberment!" Abby screamed back, tears forming in her eyes.

"We will have that after my service is up. I'm doing great things, can't you see that?" Joel inquired, his voice faltering.

"No, Joel. Nobody can see that but ONI." Abby managed through sobs.

Joel hesitated, struggling to gain his composure. Finally he managed, lowering his voice.

"I have to do this, Abby. It's my job." Joel finished, heart pulsing like a drum.

"Okay Joel. I'll see you when you get home." Abby said, and hung up.

Joel sat in his bad, struggling to compose himself. Finally he lost it, hurling the datapad into the wall. A shower of glass and electronics pelted him as he fought to regain control of his rapidly angering muscles.

"God damn it!" Joel screamed, thrusting himself out of the bed and allowing himself to pace.

The pain was instant and searing, but Joel walked through it. He tried to let the pain dull his mind, take it off of the inevitable fact that he was now involved in something so much more. The rest of Joel's fireteam ran quickly into the med bay, hearing the shouts from Joel.

"What's going on, mate?" Connor asked, working with Claire to carry him back to the bed.

"Abby. Me. I'm a fucking dad." Joel managed, his fists clenching white with the word.

"Oh geez, that's not good." Andre said, sitting down in the chair next to Joel.

"I don't know what to do guys. Abby means everything to me. She seemed so hurt." Joel managed, gritting his teeth.

"Hey man, she knew what she was getting into when she married 'ya." Connor piped, leaning against the window.

"It's going to be okay Joel. I'm sure other Spartans have been though this situation." Claire consoled, hand on his shoulder.

"I doubt it highly." Joel managed, wincing with pain.

"Hey hey, we need to get you some painkillers." Andre said, reaching for a drawer next to Joel's bed.

"We have our mission. Afterwards I'll personally fly us home and get you back to Abby." Claire offered, smiling.

"We're taking a break after this guys. We need it." Joel said as Andre injected him with a dose of morphine.

"Agreed. Get some rest; we're making a slipspace jump in a few hours. You're going to need all the strength you can get." Connor said.

Joel's vision began to quickly blur.

"Okay. I'll see you guys on the other side." Joel managed before he lost consciousness.

The three Spartans looked at each other, then back to Joel.

"What the hell are we going to do? Is he fit to lead?" Connor asked to nobody in particular.

"I have no idea." Claire said, watching Joel with a twinge of sadness.


	4. Chapter 4: The New Phoenix Event

_UNSC Spectre_

Low Earth Orbit, Sol System,

400 Hours: July 24, 2557

"…-Oel, Joel, wake up! C'mon!" Claire's voice drilled into Joel's ears, waking him.

Joel sat straight up, looking down at his leg. The medics had operated and fixed the break. The stench of biogel filled Joel's nose. He tried moving his leg, and found it easy and relatively painless. Satisfied, he looked to Claire.

"What's Going on?" Joel asked, sliding out of bed and into his MJOLNIR boots.

"It's Earth. Slipspace rupture right above the Western coast of North America." Claire replied, leading Joel to the armory

"Covenant?" Joel inquired, running full speed down the hall.

"No. It's something else. Take a look for yourself." Claire said, pointing out the window.

Joel stopped at the glass window, staring out into the fringes of the blue-tinted atmosphere of Earth. Near the horizon a strange object floated menacingly above earth. Immediately distinguishable as Forerunner, the tip of the long structure glowed vibrantly and dangerously. The glare from the beam blinded Joel.

"We gotta get moving." Joel said, his heart beginning to race.

"Captain informed our team of the logistics of our mission. We're to set up in two heavily armored pelicans, infiltrate the structure, and neutralize it. Infinity and Stalwart are en-route, ETA thirty minutes.

"We got any other assets?" Joel asked as they reached the armory.

"Yeah. The Admiral informed us the Chief may be onboard the vessel."

Joel stopped, rifle in his hand, to look at Claire.

"The Master Chief? Impossible, he died four years ago."

"Apparently not, but I'll believe it when I see it." Claire said, shoving grenades into her holsters.

Connor and Andre came into the room moments later, rifles shouldered. The two rummaged through the crates and came out with rockets, a railgun, and two sticky detonators.

"Why the hell wasn't I awoken? What the hell are we up against?" Joel asked angrily.

"A Forerunner. Data gathered from Infinity says it calls itself the Didact. It's a ruthless killing machine; Infinity suffered heavy losses battling it outside this system. It's a killer, and it's powerful. The station it's occupying may be a weapon of unimaginable power." The Admiral said, striding into the room quickly.

"Admiral, I need to know more than that to get this done." Joel said, grabbing packs of ammunition as he spoke.

"I'm afraid that's all I can give you right now. Your mission is to link up with the Chief and neutralize the Didact." The admiral finished, walking out of the armory and out of sight.

Andre and Connor turned to each other, then to Joel.

"Hey Joel, it's just the average mission. Nothing crazy, right?" Andre consoled, loading his rifle.

"The Chief is there. That's anything but average." Claire said, looking to Joel.

Joel stood in front of his team for a moment, taking in their remarks. They all had their Spartan helmets on, rifles shouldered and ready for battle. He noticed the cuts and holes in their armor, small areas blackened by hot plasma during their campaign on Sanghelios. They had grown so much with him, soldiers and friends.

"Guys, if this is it, which I have a feeling it might be, you were the best men and women I've had the privilege of serving with." Joel said, looking out at the strange ship on the horizon.

The team of four stepped out of the armory and made their way quickly to the shuttle bay. Two outfitted Pelicans sat waiting for them, while two marine pilots stood at the ready in front of the aircraft. The Spartans arrived, and Joel spoke out to the marines.

"Gentlemen, we honor your willingness to serve with us, but this is a mission that may prove to be a one-way ticket. I'd suggest you let us go ahead." Joel said to the pilots, who nodded their understanding and stood aside.

"Claire, You're with me. Connor and Andre, you'll be behind us with the heavy weaponry. You wait for us to call you, and then you'll come in guns blazing. Sound good?" Joel informed as the Spartans stirred up the pelicans' engines and exited the ONI frigate.

The two pelicans shot out into space, Claire maneuvering the Pelican through leftover debris from the Mombassa space elevator.

"Wow, this stuff is ancient. Who knew they wouldn't send clean-up crews for this kind of shit." Andre said over the link.

"A good question." Connor chuckled through the link.

Joel looked straight ahead as they flew silently through the darkness. Below them the east coast of North America stretched across his vision. The forerunner ship came ever closer in the Spartan's view. With each passing moment Joel worried more and more about the outcome of the mission.

"Split up and flank, Andre." Joel said through the link.

"Yessir. Let's fuck this forerunner up." Connor yelled as their pelican fell out of sight behind Joel.

Suddenly the Forerunner structure began to glow intensely bright. The turret at the edge of the device sent out a strange pulse, and then fired in a orange beam that splashed out into space. Joel watched as it slowly covered the black space between it and earth, unable to speak. It fell almost gracefully to the earth, glowing with golden orange light as it touched the Earth's surface. Joel looked down and immediately approximated the probable area of impact. His heart skipped a beat as Abby's last words exploded into his head.

"_I'll see you when you get home."_

"Where did that beam hit?" Joel managed to Claire, who was looking at a satellite image of the effected area.

"New Phoenix." Claire said sternly.

"What happened down there? What the hell happened down there?" Joel asked, fear bubbling in his chest.

"I don't know. There appears to be no structural damage."

Joel sat down in the co-pilot's seat, watching the beam as it continued its stream of unknown energy down to New Phoenix.

"…I know. We have to keep going." Claire whispered quietly inside her helmet.

Joel managed to overhear it and switched his link channel in his own helmet.

"I'm not seeing any signs of life on the surface. New Phoenix is just dust and echoes." Connor said solemnly.

All of a sudden Joel could no longer hear. His vision began to blur and tunnel, and his throat began to seize.

"Wha-what the hell did you just say?" Joel managed to stutter onto the channel.

"Joel." Claire said, turning to face him in the co-pilot seat. Her words said everything.

"Is she gone too?" Joel asked, his voice breaking.

"We have to finish the mission." She said, moving the datapad away.

Joel lunged for the datapad, his fear uncontrollable.

"Is she gone too? Is she fucking gone too?" He screamed over and over, reaching for the Pelican's controls.

"Joel, calm down!" Connor yelled over the link.

Joel looked at Claire, who held him at bay with both of her arms as the Pelican coasted on autopilot. He stopped lunging and stood back away from her.

"I need to go down there." Joel said.

"We have a mission." Claire replied, trying to calm him down.

"My mission is Abby." Joel managed.

"Joel. We have to finish this mission. This thing could destroy everything. For all we know Chief is re-dead and that forerunner death machine is not going to stop." Claire spoke.

"Let the Infinity take care of it. Please." Joel said.

Claire turned to the Forerunner ship still firing off in the distance. She stared quietly for a moment, and then took control of the pelican. She banked the aircraft hard and sent it speeding down towards Earth.

"Andre, Connor. Find a way into that thing and fucking destroy it." Claire said as she glanced at Joel.

"Rodger that." Andre replied and burned towards the ship.

Joel's pelican descended towards the beam. Soon the darkness of space was replaced with blue sky, and the pelican was skimming above the clouds. The orange beam pushed masses of clouds towards the Pelican, which swirled and clouded the windows as they descended. The beam became more and more brilliant as they came closer to the ground, and they soon managed to break below the cloud line. The Arizona desert stretched barren in all directions, pale rock and sand. Up ahead in the distance, pillars of silver and sparkling towers of glass shone against a backdrop of huge mountains. The beam slammed into the buildings, and strange tendrils of orange energy reached down into the city. Yet nothing was broken, and there were no explosions or falling buildings. Joel stared transfixed at the beam, wanting to grab it and throw it back out into space.

"Joel, I'm getting some bad readings from that thing. You're not expecting us to go in it, are you?" Claire asked, holding the pelican in a hover on the outskirts of the city.

"I don't know." Joel replied, staring at the beam.

* * *

><p>Andre and Connor watched as Claire's pelican banked towards the surface and out of sight. They flew continuously for a while, nearing the strange forerunner ship. As they came close to it's surface, they saw a more brilliant light begin to emerge from the end of the machine.<p>

"Turn it around!" Connor yelled, and Andre flipped the pelican backwards.

They engaged the afterburners and rocketed away from the ship just as it exploded in brilliant yellow flames. As the pelican receded from the exploding forerunner ship, an EMP pulse knocked its engines out. Both of the Spartan's shields were depleted, and a warning sounded on their suits of incoming gamma radiation. Andre analyzed the radioactive particles, running them in a suit test.

"This radiation appears to have a HAVOK fallout signature." Andre said, furiously trying to get the Pelican's engines back online.

"Chief?" Connor asked himself as bits of the forerunner ship began to fly past them.

* * *

><p>The beam stopped as suddenly as it began. The orange tendrils fell like rain to the desert floor, and the beam's brilliance dimmed until it altogether stopped. Claire gunned the Pelican into the city as soon as she deemed it safe, guiding the pelican through the streets. She opened the ramp, letting Joel go and look out through the lowered door as she searched for Joel's apartment building. Joel watched quietly as they flew though the streets. Not a single car moved, nor was a single person seen. All that Joel could see was small piles of ash, pock marking the gray street with brilliant orange. He sat down, his legs dangling off of the ramp, rifle at the ready. They finally reached the building as the sun came up above the eastern mountains. Claire hovered the pelican at the 86th floor, and Joel shot three bursts into the window to shatter it. Once broken, Joel leaped from the pelican into the building.<p>

The room was quiet, dark, and empty. He walked carefully, afraid that he may wake Abby from her sleep. He glanced at the refrigerator that held all of their pictures, grabbing one of the two of them at ONI graduation. He stared at the picture for a moment, smiling to himself at the memory of it. He walked down the hall and to the door that led to their bedroom. He reached for the handle, a lump of pure horror prematurely building in his throat. He turned the knob and opened the door, walking into the room noiselessly. He looked at the bed first, the nightstand holding pictures of the two of them in various moments during their lives. The alarm clock sat untouched, still waiting to go off. He glanced to the area next to the bed, knowing he would find the ashes there. He walked slowly, like a child not wanting to be caught in the night. The other side of the bed finally came into view. He fell to his knees when he saw the pile, smoking and orange, where Abby must have stood not an hour ago. He began to sob, falling to his hands and dropping his rifle.

"No no no…Abby...I'm sorry." Joel managed between sobs, pounding his fist on the floor of the apartment.

"I'm sorry Abby. I'm sorry baby, I love you." He said, crawling to the ashes.

He removed his helmet and placed it on the bed. He lay down beside the pile, staring out the window and out to the ONI building across the street. The sky above suddenly filled with bright shooting stars, burning pieces of the Forerunner ship falling to Earth. Joel managed to get himself back into a crawling position, making his way out to the living room. In the living room a cradle and menagerie of baby toys sat in boxes waiting to be opened. He stifled a set of sobs and crawled to the guest room, which he found cleared of his workout material and replaced with paintings of planets and pirate ships.

"It was a boy." Joel said to himself, trying to hold back his tears.

Joel's stomach emptied itself on the floor, and Joel wiped away the remnants before returning to the kitchen. The hot morning wind blew through the apartment, sending papers flying everywhere. Joel managed to make it to the dining room table before collapsing, the grief overtaking him with waves of uncontrollable sobs.

"WHY?" Joel cried out, his voice echoing off of the empty streets of New Phoenix.

Claire landed the Pelican on the roof of the building, taking the elevator down the fifty floors to Joel's floor. She entered the room to find Joel scooping a pile of ashes in the bedroom into a small canister. She silently helped him, watching as he sobbed hysterically into the floor. When the ashes were in the canister, she took Joel and led him out to the kitchen. She sat him down in the chair and went to grab a glass of water.

"Its in the second cupboard. The one with the ONI symbol on the mug." Joel said.

"Okay. Where's your helmet?" Claire asked, watching him run his gloved fingers through his brown hair.

His head looked almost too small, dwarfed by the size of the torso armor that wrapped around him. His eyes gleamed with tears, the green as dark as a forest. His chiseled cheeks ran black with soot-mixed teardrops, and his teeth grated against each other as he struggled to hold back a greater barrage of tears.

"I'm sorry, Claire." He managed, looking up at her as she set down the water.

"For what, Joel?" She asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not fit for this." He said, looking at the cup sitting on the table.

"Yes you are, Joel. You're the finest Spartan I've ever served under. You're our friend and our comrade. We'd be lost without you." Claire complimented, trying to dodge he pitfalls of grief that were opening up beneath Joel's tired eyes.

"Did I give too much?" Joel asked himself, standing up and walking to the broken window.

"No Joel! Without you, Sanghelios would be in ruins! We've done so much for ONI! So much for mankind!" Claire stated.

"But nobody can see it. Nobody sees it until we fail." Joel said to himself, looking down to the deserted streets of New Phoenix.

Claire quickly walked to him, ready to grab him in case he jumped.

"Can you gab me the datapad on the table there?" He asked Claire, pointing to the ceramic countertop where a small device sat.

Claire grabbed it, still keeping an eye on Joel, and handed it to him. She watched as he opened up the device and scrolled through the display, searching for something. Finally Joel found something, and sat down at the kitchen table.

"This." Joel said, pointing to a picture he pulled up on the pad.

Claire glanced at it. It was immediately identifiable as the forerunner ship. It sat encased in a rock on some orbital station. The picture was not very detailed, but It appeared to be on some sort of asteroid belt.

"What is it?" Claire asked, tapping on the source page.

"It's called the composer." Joel spoke simply.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want to find out where it came from."

Claire stepped back.

"What do you want to do?" She asked.

"I want to destroy everything that created it." Joel whispered, holding the ONI cup in his hand.

* * *

><p>LOCATION:UNKNOWN<br>ERROR:ECUMENEPROMETHEANTRANSIT  
>TRACK3342987<p>

"Wha-where am I?

"You're home."

"Who are you? It's so bright."

"Don't worry, your eyes just need to adjust."

"And who are you?"

"I am you, I am me. We are one and the same; souls."

"Where am I? Why can't I feel anything?"

"It's the effects of the composition. It will wear off soon."

"I can't feel my head. What's happening? Where is Joel?"

"Be still, the composition is not finished quite yet."

"What composition? What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I matter not. I merely see to the souls that are composed, before they are placed into their Promethean combat machine."

"What? Is this an ONI exercise? What are you?"

"A fragment. A collective intelligence left from millennia ago. You may refer to me briefly as the Librarian. My husband's machine has surprisingly not yet been able to index your consciousness."

"Why is this happening? Is this just me?"

"No, I'm afraid my husband's murderous tool has composed your entire city of New Phoenix."

"Dear god..."

"...am I going to die?"

"Your soul will not, but your consciousness will be wiped when you are placed into your Promethean. You will not remember your human life."

"What-no! Joel! I won't let it happen! I'm not dead yet!"

"I'm afraid it's too late. You've already..."

"AGHHHHHH!"

ERRORECUMENECONTROL ~[FLAG ERDETRYRENESUBJECT19997864086]

"...intriguing. There's something different about you. You may be the answer to my search."

"What are you talking about? Wait, what are you doing? No! Stop! That hurts!"

"You posses something. Something within your soul that may hold the key to stopping much more than my husband."

"It hurts...dear god it hurts..."

"The pain will go away. I'm taking you away from this place."

"Please...make it stop..."

WARNING [DIDACT], CONSTRUCT INFILTRATION OF ECUMENE CONTROL SUBSECT707:PROMETHEAN TRANSIT, DATA LOSS OF 1.2 TERABYTES. REQUEST DIRECTIVE/


End file.
